Winter weather causes power outages, crashes

POTTSTOWN — A snow storm that left many roads slick early Wednesday afternoon also caused some significant power outages Wednesday.

More than a thousand in Pottstown were left without power due to the winter weather.

Ben Armstrong, a spokesperson for PECO, said an outage cause by a damaged piece of ”pole-top equipment” in Pottstown began around 2:50 p.m. in the area of Walnut and Beech Streets along with Lincoln Avenue.

By 3:20 p.m., crews restored power to 680 customers, but more than 700 remained without power early Wednesday evening while crews “continued to access the circuit to see if they can identify the damaged circuit,” Armstrong said.

There was no estimate as to when power would return as crews continued to try to find the source of the remaining outages in the circuit system.

On the roads, fewer commuters helped lessen the impact of the snow and ice Wednesday.

“It is the day after a holiday, a lot of people take the day off, school (is) out,” said Charlie Metzger, PennDOT’s community relations coordinator Wednesday. “Traffic will be lighter than normal (for Wednesday evening’s commute). We expect the storm to change, rain is moving northward.”

Due to a “weather emergency,” the speed limit was lowered on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to 45 miles per hour between the Ohio state border and the Morgantown exit, according to an advisory on the turnpike’s official website.

Metzger said 44 trucks were mobilized to clean out “storm inlets” for the anticipated rain, but the trucks were also outfitted with snow plows and salt-spreaders to help with the wintry mix of precipitation that arrived Wednesday afternoon.

Additionally, PennDOT was able to utilize its 8,000 gallon salt brine trailer which has the ability to treat all of Routes 76, 476 and 422 in the area before having to stop to refuel.

“It worked out great,” Metzger said. “It can treat three travel lanes at once. It’s a good piece of equipment, we will be able to free up other trucks to focus on other areas.”

In addition to the slick conditions, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly issued a flood watch for the area, including such specific areas as Honey Brook, Pottstown and Collegeville.

Between one and a half and two inches of rain were forecast.

“Nonessential” Pennsylvania state workers were notified that they would be able to leave their offices two hours earlier than they normally would Wednesday due to the weather, according to a spokesperson for the state.

When the snow initially began in Wednesday afternoon’s early hours, crashes relating to the weather began to pick up.

A supervisor at Montgomery County Emergency Dispatch said at 2 p.m. that the western part of the county was particularly affected by the weather.

In Upper Pottsgrove around 1:15 p.m., not long after snow began falling, a two vehicle crash in Route 100’s southbound lanes partially blocked the road.

A car slowed up to make a right onto West Moyer Road when a truck behind it couldn’t slow down in time to stop and rear-ended the turning vehicle, according to the Upper Pottsgrove Police.

Weather conditions played a role in the accident, police said, but there were no injuries and the road was soon cleared and opened completely.

A car slid into a utility pole on Clahor Avenue near Colonial Avenue in Collegeville Wednesday afternoon roughly an hour after the accident on Route 100.

The Collegeville Police said the accident occurred just after sleet started falling, so the problem of slick roads just “popped up.”

The woman driver complained of some pain but refused treatment and her vehicle was towed away. PECO crews arrived to take care of the pole, which was severed at the base, police said.

The Collegeville Police said roads were slippery at points but there weren’t any further accidents there Wednesday afternoon.

In Limerick, there were reports that a single vehicle came off Swamp Pike near Sankey Road, landing on its “nose” around the same time as the accident in Collegeville.

Police said slick conditions existed in the side roads off the main thoroughfares.

By 3 p.m., the snow turned to light rain or sleet throughout the tri-county area.

As the evening drive times approached, Metzger believed the roads would be better than they were earlier in the afternoon.

“With the rain coming, temperatures are going to go up,” he said. “Whatever slick spots there are, they are going to be isolated. We’ll just have to ride it out and see what happens.”

Metzger said he expected temperatures to reach 40 degrees by Thursday morning and for the commute to have fewer issues than early in the afternoon Wednesday.

“We’ll have our crews out for tonight, spraying salt as necessary,” he said Wednesday.